The Sweetheart With A Dark Side
by SideshowJazz1
Summary: When Geoff signed up for Total Drama Island, he persuaded his 10-month younger sister Elle to do the same. She assumes that she can be the sweetest girl on the island, but Heather drives her completely insane? Will her dark side come out? And what about the next two seasons? Will she stay sweet, or will her dark side become the only true Elle left? OC/Canon pairing included. R&R!
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

**A/N: I must be insane to be writing this. Seriously. It's my third Total Drama OC story. So far I've done a younger contestant who falls for Duncan and is friends with Courtney, a new World Tour contestant who is on to Alejandro pretty early but still falls for him, and now I'm doing this one. Thing is, one character I never really focused on is Geoff. And I've only written a character on the Killer Bass, before, so how about writing a character who's on the Screaming Gophers?**

**Plot: Elle is Geoff's younger sister by 10 months. When they're both accepted to Total Drama Island and are split up by their teams, will she still be able to hang out with them? And Elle will be paired with someone. Please review!**

**Oh yes, and I know this does conflict with Geoff's backstory with his family, so this is AU in that way.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama. I do own Elle.**

"Okay, Elle...and action!"

I smiled at the camera, pulling my hair into a ponytail. "Hi! So maybe you're thinking I'm boring. Or maybe you think I look a lot like that party animal with the cowboy hat if you already watched the audition tape. Yeah, that's my brother. And by the way, that's why you're putting me on Total Drama Island. You want drama? I'll give you drama! You can do absolutely anything, but we won't drive each other any more insane than living together has!" I grinned. "Oh yeah, and by the way, I play the game how I play everything: Fair, fun and let's not forget – I'm in it to win it!" I turned back to my cameraman. "That's it."

My brother Geoff, who was recording my audition tape for the new reality show, let his finger hover over the button to end the recording. "I don't know...wouldn't they prefer to see the real you?"

He always teased me like that. "Seriously, Geoff, turn that thing off. I'm done."

He finally finished the recording, and grinned at me. "So you think that'll get them to accept you? Seriously, little sister, you need to show your wild side! Where's the Elle that comes out when she's at the clubs?"

"Locked up in the closet." I quipped. "Like the Geoff you bring out when there's something you have to take seriously. Like the fact that Mom said you're not supposed to be out every night during finals, except you've found a way to get in and out of the house for the last five nights. And you dragged me out three nights ago to film your audition tape while you were at the beach, and then you convince me to apply too! I take things seriously, something you could learn!"

"Chill, sis! That party was awesome, wasn't it? We both had fun."

Having grown up the way we had, Geoff and I were both party animals to a point. I could take about two a week, maybe three. If there wasn't one six days a week with Geoff, he'd throw one every night Mom and Dad were out that week (they were out usually two nights) and make sure it was the biggest one yet. To be honest, I adored Geoff, and I always would. We were close for siblings, mainly because even though we were only ten months apart, he took his job as the older sibling very seriously when he thought it was important...like when he was already getting into stuff like alcohol when he'd first turned sixteen and I was still fifteen, he wouldn't let me have any. And he also wanted to make sure he knew every boyfriend I had so he'd know they were decent (which is why I'd only dated three boys ever and none of them were serious...but he couldn't stop me having a few hook ups at parties, since they weren't serious and I didn't get caught).

"I'll admit I enjoyed it," I sighed jokingly, "If you admit that I'm more likely to be accepted than you."

_**TOTALDRAMATOTALDRAMATOTALDRAMATOTALDRAMATOTALDRAMATOTALDRAMATOTALDRAMA**_

Two weeks later, the two of us were speeding on a boat to the five star resort at Camp Wawanakwa with all our luggage for the next eight weeks. Yes, we'd both been accepted!

We could see the host, Chris McLean, and three other competitors, all about the same age as us (sixteen). There was a pudgy but short girl with huge glasses and braces, a tall muscled guy with dark skin, and a scowling goth girl.

Geoff jumped off the boat first. "Chris McLean!" he exclaimed brightly. "Sup, man! It's an honour to meet you, man!"

"The Geoffster!" Chris answered. "Welcome to the island, man."

"Thanks, man."

"They say 'man' one more time, I'm gonna puke." muttered the goth.

I jumped off the boat too. "Hey, Chris." I greeted the host, looking around for our accomodations. "Um, where's the hotel you were talking about?"

"Yeah, about that." Chris began. "We had to downgrade where you're staying a bit." He pointed to a couple of crappy cabins further up. "Anyway, Elle, welcome to Camp Wawanakwa!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes, but went to stand with the other four as another boat dropped the next competitor off.

"Everybody," Chris introduced, "This is Lindsay."

The girl standing there was very pretty, a blonde with blue eyes and a bandanna, wearing brown cowgirl boots.

"Not too shabby." Chris muttered.

"Hi!" Lindsay said in a soft girly voice. "Okay, you look so familiar..."

"I'm Chris McLean." Chris answered. Lindsay looked blank. "The host? Of the show?"

"Oh, that's where I know you from!" Lindsay said brightly, smiling again.

I rolled my eyes. Wasn't it obvious?

But I'd take Lindsay over the next camper any day. At least Lindsay said hi. The girl who stepped onto the dock next scowled, took off her sunglasses, and her eyes flickered over all of us critically.

She ignored Chris as he acknowledged "Heather."

The short girl jumped in front of her, calling "Hi! Looks like we're your new friends for the next eight weeks!" Heather cringed away from her, looking disgusted.

I was about to ask the short girl's name when punk music began playing from the next boat. A boy with a lot of piercings and a green mohawk was the next person. He jumped onto the dock, a scowl on his face.

"Duncan, dude." Chris greeted him.

"I don't like surprises." the boy said, holding up a fist.

"Yeah, your parole officer warned me about that, man." Chris said. "He also told me to give him a holler any time and have you returned to juvie."

Duncan's expression changed. "Okay, then." he walked to where the rest of us were standing. As he passed Heather, he said "Meet you by the campfire, gorgeous."

"Drop dead, you skeez." was her reply. "I'm calling my parents." she added. "You can _not_ make me stay here."

Chris held up a bunch of papers.

At that moment, there was another boat, a boy in a red tracksuit waterskiiing on it. "Ladies and gentlemen," Chris announced, "Tyler!" At that moment, this Tyler guy went flying, falling into the luggage everyone had placed in the same space on the dock. Tyler's bag fell into the water, the splash soaking Heather.

"Ugh, my shoes!" she exclaimed.

I didn't know what it was, but I disliked Heather already, and I couldn't help but grin when she was the one who was soaked.

"Wicked wipeout, dude!" called Chris. Tyler gave us the thumbs up before climbing out of the luggage.

The next boy was holding a keyboard as he arrived. He had little square glasses and stubble. "Welcome to camp, Harold." Chris greeted him.

There was a pause.

"What's he looking at?" lisped the shortest girl in a loud whisper.

"So you mean this show is at a crappy summer camp and not on some big stage or something?" Harold asked. Chris confirmed it. "Yes! That is so much more favourable to my skills!"

Next was a boy Chris introduced as Trent. He was tall with a friendly face and green eyes, and he carried a guitar case. "Hey, good to meet you, man!" he greeted Chris. "Saw you on that figure skating show. Nice work."

"Hey, thanks, man." Chris answered. "I knew I rocked that show!"

"I saw that!" said the shortest girl. "One of the guys dropped his partner on her head! So they got immunity that week."

"Lucky." remarked Harold. "I hope I get dropped on my head."

"Me too!" said Lindsay, sounding completely sincere about it.

"So, this is it?" Trent said, frowning. "Alrighty then." He stood with the rest of us, immediately smiling at the goth. She scowled at first, but the minute he looked away, she smiled for the first time.

I caught her eye and mouthed "_He likes you." _Mistake. She scowled again and shrugged. I smiled at her apologetically as the next camper arrived, a girl with pale blonde hair in a ponytail, holding a red and orange surfboard.

"Hey. What's up?" she greeted Chris.

"All right." Chris grinned. "Our surfer chick, Bridgette, is here!"

"Nice board." Duncan said bitingly. "This ain't Malibu, honey."

"I thought we were going to be on a beach." Bridgette explained.

"We are!"

Yeah, but not a surfing beach. Not a swimming beach, either. It was covered with litter and the water was clouded with pollution.

"Great." Bridgette muttered, but she greeted everyone else nicely enough.

I could immediately see something in Geoff's face change. I'd seen it millions of times, whenever he had a crush on someone. He immediately introduced himself to Bridgette, trying to give her his most suave smile. She immediately turned to face him, half the guys having to duck as her surfboard turned with her.

"Dang! Watch the board, man!" Harold told her.

The shortest girl also introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Beth!"

Bridgette turned again, the boys having to duck again. "Hey."

"Okay, we've all met surfer girl." Heather muttered, still trying to wring water out of her long dark hair. "Can we get on with the show, please?"

"Someone missed their double cappacino macchiato this morning." Duncan teased her.

"Get bent."

"Our next camper is Noah!" Chris announced, rubbing his head from getting hit by Bridgette's board earlier.

Noah was a skinny dark little thing. "You got my memo about my life-threatening allergies?"

"I'm sure someone did!" Chris said brightly.

"Good, is this where we're staying?"

"No, it's your mother's house, and we're throwing a party!" Duncan informed him. I couldn't help giggling.

Noah didn't seem to find this funny. "Cute. Nice piercings, original, do them yourself?"

"Yeah, you want one?" Duncan grabbed Noah's lip as a threat.

"Uh, no thanks, can I have my lip back, please?" Noah said, still managing to sound calm. "Thanks."

Next was an African-Canadian girl, who waved from the boat, yelling "What's up, y'all, Leshawna's in the house!" She stepped onto the dock, greeting Chris as she passed. "Feel free to quit now and save yourselves the trouble, cause I came to win!" She grinned at everyone. She high fived the muscled dark guy.  
>"I've never seen a girl like you in real life before." Harold remarked.<p>

"Excuse me?" Leshawna said.

"You're real big. And loud."

Leshawna scowled. "What did you say to me? Oh no you didn't! You have not seen anything yet, I show you big, baby!" Some of the guys had to hold her back.

I grinned, liking her already. "Hey, Leshawna!" I greeted her, whispering "Don't take any notice of that dweeb. He probably doesn't mean anything by it."

Leshawna smiled at me, just as the next two campers arrived, two girls dressed alike in stripy tops and pink shorts.

"Ladies." Chris greeted them, "Sadie, Katie, welcome to your new home for eight weeks!"

"Omigosh, Sadie, look!" exclaimed the skinnier darker girl. "It's a summer camp!"

"Okay, I've always wanted to go to summer camp!" answered the plumper paler girl. "Eeee!" No, seriously, she squealed like that. Okay, so Katie was the dark one, and Sadie was the pale one. I'd need to remember that.

"Ezekiel," Chris greeted the next camper, a scruffy looking guy wearing a hat, "What's up, man?"

Ezekiel pointed up. "I think I see a bird..."

Trent snickered.

"Okay," Chris said, "I know you don't get out much. Been homeschooled your whole life, raised by freaky piarie people, just don't say too much and try not to get kicked off too early, okay."

"Yes, sir!"

The next camper was dorky, some guy with nice blue eyes attempting to be cool. "Cody!" Chris greeted him (wow, I'm using that phrase a lot). "The Codester! The Codemeister!"

"Dude, psyched to be here, man." Cody answered, his eyes raking over all of us. "I see the ladies have already arrived. Alright."

He was about to say something to Leshawna, but she said quickly "Save it, short stuff."

At that moment, Cody looked at me and grinned. "Hey, beautiful." he greeted me.

I smiled sweetly and said "If you're going to hit on someone else later on, you might want to move along."

The next girl to step onto the dock was some scary monobrowed girl with serious muscles in athletic gear.

"Eva." Chris acknowledged. "Nice. Glad you could make it."

The girl dropped her bags on Cody's foot. "Ow! What's in there, dumbbells?"

"Yes." Eva answered flatly.

"She's all yours, man." Duncan muttered to the muscled guy.

The next boy was huge and loud. "Woohoo!" he yelled. "Chris! What's happening! This is awesome! Woohoo!"

"Owen, welcome!" Chris said, trying to match the boy's enthusiasm.

"Awesome to be here, man!" Owen said, nearly crushing Chris in a hug. "Man, this is just so..."  
>"Awesome?" the goth girl suggested with a smirk.<p>

"Yes! Awesome!" yelled Owen. "Are you gonna be on my team?"

"Oh, I sure hope so." the goth muttered, drawing the 'crazy' signal next to her ear.

"You about finished?" Chris asked, frowning.

Owen put him back down. "Sorry, dude. I'm just so psyched!"

Chris nodded, already looking at the next boat. "Cool. And here comes Courtney!"

The girl on the next boat smiled and waved. She was quite pretty, with big dark eyes and shoulder-length brown hair. Chris helped her off the boat. "Thank you," she said, before walking over to us. "Hi, you must be the other contestants." she said. "It's really nice to meet you all." I raised my eyebrows. She seemed nice, but no way was she a teenager! Teenagers did not talk like that.

Then again, most of the teenagers I talked to were just as much into having fun as I was (my friends) or party-insane (Geoff and his friends).

Owen shook her hand. "How's it going, I'm Owen!"

"Nice to meet you," Courtney began, about to be sidetracked by the next boat "Ow...wow."

The next contestant had one word to describe him..._hot. _He looked like a life-size Ken doll and all the girls were mesmerized, including me. I heard Sadie fall to the ground behind me.

"This is Justin. Welcome to Total Drama Island." Chris greeted him.

"Thanks, Chris, this is great." the guy said.

"Just so you know, we picked you based entirely on your looks."

"I can deal with that." Justin shrugged.

"I like your pants!" Owen blurted out.

"Thanks, man."

"Cause they look like they're all worn out! Did you buy them like that?"

"Uh, no, just had them for awhile." Justin answered.

"Oh." Owen said. "Cool."

Finally, the last contestant was coming. Chris pointed her out. "Hey, everyone, Izzy!"

The girl, who had long curly red hair, smiled and waved. "Hi, Chris! Hi! Hi-" she gave a squeal as she jumped off the boat, missed the dock, hit her chin on it and fell into the water.

"Oh, that was bad." Tyler chuckled.

Courtney ran to the edge to help Izzy out of the water. "Guys, she could be seriously hurt."

Izzy seemed fine when she got out, though. "That felt...so..._good! _Except for hitting my chin. This is summer camp? That is so cool! Do you have paper mache here? Are we having lunch soon?"

"That is a good call!" exclaimed Owen.

"First things first." Chris answered. "We need a group photo for the promo. Everyone on the end of the dock!"

We obediently went to the end, posing. I wasn't short or tall, so I went into the middle, standing right behind Katie and Sadie, who were sitting back-to-back in the centre at the front. I was in front of Owen and next to Justin.

We were standing there for ages, because Chris forgot to take off the lens cap and then found the card was full. "Hang on!"

"Come on, man, my face is starting to freeze!" Leshawna called out impatiently.

"Got it! Okay!" called Chris. "Everyone, say "Wawanakwa'!"

"Wawanakwa!" we all chorused obediently...that was until the end of the dock broke under our weight and we were all dumped into the water.

"Okay, guys," Chris said, "Dry off and meet me at the campfire pit in ten!"

**I know, long (for me at least) and all filler. Next chapter will be a little more interesting. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2: Introductions

**Right! Let's continue! And yes, I made Owen's comment slightly more risque about being happy they had a part of the cabin with just guys. Just one little word change. Thanks for reviewing, RoyalBlueBunny and Twilight-WolfxXx. And to STALKER, I'm sorry, but that's on hiatus. Please don't review other fanfics to ask me to update.**

At the campfire pit, I sat down next to the goth girl. "So what's your name?" I asked. "I've heard everyone's except yours and that guy's." I waved a hand in the direction of the muscled guy.

"Gwen." the girl answered flatly.

"Don't mind me asking," I continued. "But are you mad about something?"

"I don't even want to be here." Gwen admitted. "Chris is such a jerk. I was prepared to come on this show, but not to come to this place which was not advertised on the application form." She looked at me and said "Elle, isn't it? So what are you so happy about?"

I shrugged. "I'm pissed at the producers for fooling us. But it's a reality show. I'm looking forward to trying to win and making friends. But if you really want to see happy, check out Geoff over there. I only really decided to audition for this show because he convinced me it would be fun – and because I thought there was no way either of us would be accepted." He was already laughing with a bunch of the other guys. Now I considered myself an outgoing person – I had a lot of friends (although only a few close ones), but it took me at least a few days to settle with a new gang of people. Geoff took about an hour to make a bunch of new best friends.

We didn't get a chance to talk any more, because everyone was here and Chris was telling us how the show would work. We'd be on camera all the time, for one thing. Duh. Apart from that, we'd be split into teams and compete in challenges. After each challenge, the losing team would send someone home, and they wouldn't ever be able to come back (I don't know why Chris bothered to say that – duh). The winner would be the person who stayed without getting voted off the longest.

"Excuse me," Duncan spoke up, "What will the sleeping arrangements be? Because I'd like to request a bunk under her." He pointed at Heather.

"They're not co-ed, are they?" she asked.

"No." Chris told her. "Girls get one side of each cabin and dudes get the other."

"Excuse me, Kyle?" said Lindsay. "Can I get a cabin with a lake view, since I'm the prettiest?"

"Okay, you are, but that's not really how it works here. And it's _Chris._"

Katie and Sadie grabbed hold of each other's hands. "I have to live with Sadie or I'll die!" Katie declared.

"And I'll break out in hives." Sadie added. "It's true!"

"This cannot be happening." Gwen muttered.

"Aw, come on, guys, it'll be fun!" Owen said happily. "It'll be like a big sleepover!"

Finally, Chris split us into teams, and I knew for a fact that these weren't random, because not only did he split up Sadie and Katie, but he admitted when I questioned that he'd purposely put Geoff and I on different teams. "Better ratings. Sibling rivalry always gets good ratings."

My team was the Screaming Gophers, and I was with Beth, Gwen, Cody, Owen, Lindsay, Heather, Katie, Justin, Noah, Trent and Leshawna. Geoff was on the Killer Bass with everyone else: Duncan, Sadie, Eva, Courtney, Ezekiel, Tyler, Bridgette (Lucky her, I guess – Geoff smiled when her name was called), Izzy, Harold and the big muscled guy, who was called DJ.

"But Katie's a Gopher!" Sadie protested. "I have to be a Gopher!"

Courtney put a hand on her shoulder. "Sadie, is it? Come on, it'll be okay."

Likewise, I put my arm around a crying Katie, telling her "Just because you're not on the same team doesn't mean you and Sadie won't see each other. You can still sit together at meal times and talk in between challenges."

"This is so unfair!" Sadie cried from where her team was standing. "I miss you, Katie!"

Katie turned back to call "I miss you too!" as we started walking to the cabins.

Finally, Chris showed us to our cabins. There were two rooms in each – boys got one room, girls got the other. He also showed us the confessional outhouse, where we could just talk.

Us girls went into our cabins first. "Bunk beds?" Heather frowned. "Isn't that kind of...summer camp?"

"That's the idea, genius." Gwen muttered, carrying her suitcase and what appeared to be an art portfolio to one of the bunks.

"Shut up, weird goth girl." Heather snapped.

Gwen didn't reply, but I did. "Look, Heather," I said calmly, "We're on the same team, and we should try to be friends so we can work together. Save the name calling for the merge at least." Not that I liked Heather or anything, but I figured I should be nice.

Heather scoffed. "Whatever. Party dresser." she muttered, probably referring to the fact that I happened to be wearing a miniskirt and a halter top. Hey, the skirt was not that hard to run in, and I had to look nice on TV! Of course, Geoff had laughed at me and just wore the first things he found, but I think he'd deliberately chosen an open shirt with no buttons so he could show off his abs.

I put my bag on the top bunk. Lindsay and Heather also shared a bunk, and Beth and Leshawna shared the other one. Katie had the fourth pair of bunks to herself.

Lindsay asked about where she could plug in her straightening iron.

"I think there are some in the communal bathroom." Chris told her.

Lindsay looked confused. "Communal bathroom? But I'm not Catholic!"

I giggled.

"Not communion, communal." Chris reiterated.

"It means we shower together." Gwen muttered, sitting on the steps of the cabin. "Idiot."

Lindsay started wailing, and a few of the boys looked out from their side.

"I'm glad we're in our own cabin with just guys, you know what I'm saying?" Owen remarked. Noah and Trent gave him weird looks, and Owen immediately realized what he'd said. "I mean, no! I didn't mean it like that! I love chicks. I just don't want to sleep with them...I mean..."

I couldn't help snickering a bit, and I plopped down beside Gwen. "So, guess we're teammates."

"Guess so." she muttered with obvious sarcasm, not looking at me.

I sighed. "What is up with you? I get you're mad at Chris, but I'm trying to be friendly with you."

"Look," Gwen said, "You don't have to pretend to like me just cause we're on the same team."

I frowned. "I'm not pretending to like you! I wouldn't go out of my way to talk to Heather, or Lindsay for that matter. I just like to get along with people. Come on, Gwen, I just want to be friends."

The goth just shrugged, but she half-smiled, so I counted that as a victory. I'd just have to work at being friends with her.

At lunch time, we all met at the mess hall, and this was where we met Chef Hatchet. "Listen up!" he bellowed. "I serve it three times a day, and you will eat it three times a day! Grab a tray, get your food, and sit your butts down NOW!"

"Excuse me, will we be getting all the major food groups?" I heard Beth ask as Chef dumped a bun and some kind of red substance on her plate.

I wasn't going to ask.

Soon, it was my turn. I was standing behind Gwen and Lindsay.

After Lindsay checked about what kind of foods she could and couldn't eat, Gwen told her it wouldn't be a problem, but she had her own problem. "I hate to be predictable and complain on the first day, but I think mine just moved."

In answer, Chef used some kind of hammer on her food, splattering it all over her.

"Okay then!" Gwen said quickly, leaving.

Chef glared at me. "So, what's your complaint, blondie?"

"No complaint!" I said brightly. "Just going now...thanks, Chef."

Most of the teams were sitting together, except for Katie and Sadie who were both sitting with the Killer Bass, so I decided to sit with them too.

"Any room here?" I asked brightly. DJ slid over to make room for me, so I sat down between him and Katie.

"Don't you want to sit with your team?" Courtney asked, giving me a hard stare.

I shrugged. "I'm sleeping in the cabins with them, and competing with them. I can be friends with people on this team. I don't see you asking Katie about it, and she's on my team too. If she can sit with Sadie, I can sit here too." I smiled. "Besides, ever heard 'blood is thicker than water'? I wouldn't call myself a tagalong, but there's got to be _some _reason Geoff made me sign up for this with him."

"Uh...yeah." Geoff said, slightly blushing. "My little sister can hang out with us. Not like there's any rule against it."

"I'm only ten months younger than you." I pointed out. "You don't have to call me your little sister."

"That's what you are." he pointed out, with a smirk that made me think he thought he'd annoyed me. "I think I'm allowed to call you my little sister. Or would you rather I called you _baby _sister?"

Okay, that was annoying. I flushed pink. "No, no...it...it's okay. Little sister is fine."

"Our teams don't have to fight except in challenges." Bridgette said, and she smiled at me. "Your name's Elle, right? Mine's Bridgette."

I smiled back. "Yeah, I remember. Thanks, Bridgette."

Courtney still looked at me suspiciously, but didn't say anything.

Chef's food was disgusting. I concentrated as hard as I could on the conversation, just so I would be able to keep down the food, since I knew I wouldn't get anything better for lunch.

"Welcome to the main lodge!" Chris said cheerfully as he walked in.

Geoff turned. "Yo, my man, can we order a pizza?" He barely ducked the meat cleaver thrown at him, but managed to escape with his head (and his cowboy hat) still in place. "Whoa, it's cool!" he said in defense. "Brown slop is cool!"

Apparently, our first challenge was starting in an hour.

"What do you think they'll make us do?" Katie asked nervously.

"It's our first challenge." DJ reminded her. "How hard could it be?"

By that time, I'd started to work out who I liked and disliked particularly. On the Killer Bass, I already liked DJ. He seemed friendly, nonconfrontational and gentle. Bridgette was also really, really nice, I'd noticed. On the other hand, I was already starting to dislike Courtney. Teams weren't everything.

On my team, I didn't exactly dislike Lindsay, but if she was really as stupid as she acted, she was going to severely try my patience. And Heather had already made it clear that she was a colossal bitch. Nothing nice had come out of her mouth since she arrived. Gwen and Leshawna I liked. Gwen seemed a little hard to get to know, but she'd open up in time, and I'd talked to Leshawna in the cabins. She was loud, like Harold said, but although her attitude was a bit in-your-face, I could tell she was someone you wanted as a friend, and in my case, it wasn't just because I didn't want to make an enemy of her. She was really nice once you got on her good side. All the boys seemed nice, but I liked Trent more than the others, mostly. He seemed very laid back and cool, although I hadn't spoken directly to him yet. It helped that he was extremely good-looking. More so than Justin, probably, since he wasn't just a Ken doll.

Anyway, back to our first challenge. An hour after Chris announced it, all twenty-three of us were standing on a high cliff in our bathing suits, waiting to jump off.

"Oh, shit." DJ murmured, regretting what he'd said to Katie.

**We'll pick up where the second episode goes to next! So, review now?**


	3. Chapter 3: Settling Challenge

**So we're getting onto the first challenge!**

Chris explained to us the whole challenge. First, each of us had to dive off the cliff into the water. Most of it was infested with man-eating sharks, but there was a safe zone which was shark-free, which we would aim for. Then, we'd go to the shore and take some crates to the campground, which we would then open and use whatever was inside to build a hot tub. The winning team got to have a hot tub party that evening, while the losing team would have to vote someone off.

"Killer Bass, you're up first." Chris said.

"Oh, wow." Bridgette murmured. "So...who wants to go first?"  
>There was a pause.<p>

"Don't sweat it, guys." Owen muttered to our team. "I heard these shows always make the interns do the stunt first to make sure it's survivable."

That made me feel marginally better about having to make the jump later.

Finally, Bridgette was the first to jump. "Fine. I'll go. It's no big deal, just an insane cliff dive into a circle of angry sharks..." I watched as she executed her jump perfectly and landed in the safe zone. It didn't look that hard at all!

One by one, most of the other Bass team members jumped. But DJ wouldn't do it.

"Scared of heights?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, ever since I was a kid." DJ admitted.

"That's okay, big guy." Chris said. "Unfortunately, that also makes you a chicken. So you'll have to wear this for the rest of the day." He put a chicken hat on DJ's head and sent him back down. Courtney made some excuse about having a medical condition that prevented her from diving off cliffs, but bascially, she chickened out too.

Sadie refused to jump without Katie, and they begged Chris again to let them be on the same team.

"I'll switch places with her." Izzy offered.

"All right, fine!" Chris groaned. "You're both on the Killer Bass now. Izzy, you're on the Screaming Gophers."

Well, at least Katie wouldn't have to mope all the time. Who knew, Izzy might turn out to be a good team member.

After Katie and Sadie jumped, hand in hand, it was our team's turn. And Chris said if that less than two of us chickened out, we'd get wagons to pull our crates in.

"I'm sorry." Heather said coldly. "There's no way I'm doing this."

"Why not?" Beth asked.

"Hello, national TV! I'll get my hair wet."

"You're kidding, right?" Gwen asked. I was thinking along the same lines.

"If she's not doing it, I'm not doing it!" Lindsay said, and the two girls smiled at each other.

"Oh, you're doing it." Leshawna said fiercely.

"Says who?" challenged Heather.

"Says me. I'm not losing this challenge cause of your hair, you spoilt little daddy's girl."

Heather scowled at her. "Back off, ghetto glamour too tight pants wearing rap star wannabe."

Leshawna scowled back. "Mall shopping ponytail wearing _Teen Girl _reading high school prom queen!"

There was a pause.

"Well, at least I'm popular."

There was another pause. Justin took a moment to admire himself in his hand mirror.

"Justin, focus!" I hissed.

He shrugged. "What? I have to make sure I stay gorgeous."

"You're jumping!" Leshawna yelled.

"Make me!" Heather yelled back.

Now this was awesome. Leshawna just picked up Heather and threw her off the cliff. Huh, that was good.

"Hey, Leshawna?" I said. "I don't think I'll be able to make that cliff dive. Could you...uh..." I really didn't want to jump, and I didn't want to be thrown off, either, but I couldn't see any way to help my team win unless I was thrown off, since I just couldn't jump.

Leshawna grinned, knowing what I was about to say. "No problem, honey!" She picked me up (with slightly more care than Heather and threw. I screamed the whole way down, but I landed in the safe zone, where Heather was seething.

"Leshawna, you are SO dead!" she called up.

"Thanks, Leshawna!" I called up.

"Hey, I threw you – both of you – into the safe zone, didn't I? Now I just hope I can hit it too."

One by one, everyone except Beth jumped – she got a chicken hat, same as Courtney and DJ. Izzy even laughed manically as she fell. Justin was the only one that didn't land in the safe zone, but the sharks not only left him alone, but carried him to shore, just because he smiled at them. Soon, only Owen was left.

"You guys need this jump for the win!" Chris called through a megaphone. "No pressure, dude." He paused. "Okay, there's pressure."

We were all calling encouragement up to Owen, but he did take ages to do it. Who cares, he did it, and he landed safely, and we got the wagons to pull our crates with.

Opening the crates with our teeth (no, seriously, that was what we had to do) was harder, but we were already way ahead of the other team.

Izzy opened the first crate pretty easily. She straightened up and then cried out. "Ow! Rope burn on my tongue!"

While Leshawna and I got out the tools from our crate, Heather came up to us, Lindsay close behind. "I just want to say," she said to Leshawna, "I didn't mean all that about you being a rap star wannabe, and I love your earrings. They're so pretty." She noticed I was there, and smiled again. "By the way, Elle, I didn't get a chance to tell you on the cliff, but that bikini you were wearing is just perfect for your colouring."

"Straight up?" Leshawna asked. "Well...I'm sorry about knocking you over the cliff."

I didn't trust Heather, but I figured I might as well be nice, so I smiled, but said nothing.

"No worries." she said brightly. "I needed a push. Truce?"

Leshawna didn't hear Lindsay and Heather talking afterwards, but I did. Heather admitted that she didn't mean anything she'd said. "They're going down. And PS, those are the ugliest earrings I've seen in my life. I did kind of mean what I said about Elle's bikini...but only because she can't pull off anything that showed more skin than that thing."

"So if you hate them, why are you being nice to them?" Lindsay asked her.

"You ever seen one of these shows before? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."

"Oh...I'm your friend, right?"

"Oh, yeah. For now."

I scowled and walked back, asking Leshawna "Did you believe what Heather said?"

Leshawna considered. "No, but I couldn't say so, could I? There's something about that girl that is just so fake."

I nodded. "Yeah, I don't trust her either. Too bad she's on our team. I hope she won't be too useful, then I'd have a good reason to vote her off. I'm not voting people off without a reason."

Anyway, we won the challenge. As if it wasn't enough for the Killer Bass, Katie and Sadie had accidentally squatted in poison ivy and weren't much help, while Courtney had been bitten by something and her eye was swelling up. Oh yeah, and their hot tub broke in seconds.

I sat with my team at dinner time that night, enjoying our victory. I was already good friends with Leshawna, and Gwen was starting to warm up a little bit.

Lindsay was still hanging out with Heather, and Beth had joined them, so it looked like I wouldn't be especially friendly with them. It didn't mean I could be civil, I just didn't think I could try to be friends with Heather. She already didn't like me.

Izzy was a bit strange. She didn't really say much, but what she did say usually made no sense. But the boys were okay. Cody didn't flirt with me again, Owen was so funny (although after experiencing his noxious gas for the first time, I wasn't in a hurry to experience it again). Noah was more of a bookworm, not taking much interest in what was going on, and Justin was more interested in himself than anything else, but Trent turned out to be really nice, and really laid back. I definitely wanted to hang out with him more. I didn't like him like that or anything, but he seemed like a great guy.

I kept an ear out while the other team was talking about who to vote out. Duncan wanted to vote off Courtney or DJ (probably because they jumped off the team). When Courtney protested, Bridgette asked her who she'd pick.

Courtney looked around, and then pointed at Tyler. "What about him?"

"No!" cried Lindsay from our table. "I mean...no salt, there's no salt on the table. Bummer." she said nervously.

I winked at her and mouthed "_Lindsay and Tyler, hmm?"_

Lindsay blushed, which was all I needed to see. I gave her my sweetest smile to let her know I wasn't trying to be mean or anything.

While we partied in our hot tub that night, the Killer Bass voted off Ezekiel. He made some sexist comments about girls, saying that guys were stronger and smarter, and his team got pissed.

I got Geoff to tell me this. "But just you Gophers wait, we'll win the next challenge!" he grinned.

I laughed. "In your dreams, bro! We beat you once, we can do it again!"

Geoff laughed with me. "As long as we keep things light and have fun, it's all cool." he said. "I mean, the hundred grand might be the main thing, but this game isn't going to split us up, right, Elle?"

"Of course not." I said confidently. "And I'm still going to hang out with your team from time to time, no matter what Courtney says!"

**The Awake-A-Thon next! Think Elle will be able to win it?**

**Why didn't anyone review? Doesn't anyone like (or hate) it?**


	4. Chapter 4: Stay Awake

**Okay, so let's go! Thanks for reviewing, RoyalBlueBunny...all reviewers need to do is take the time to say "I read and enjoyed it". I'd be happy with that.**

There was supposed to be twenty-six episodes, so some challenges would last days, and other times, we'd get to take a breather for a couple of days. This week, we had the hot tub challenge, one day to just get to know each other, and then our next challenge.

By the end of our first breather day, I knew everyone's names perfectly, no matter what team they were on. Gwen finally seemed to accept me trying to be friends with her, and I was already becoming friends with Leshawna. I also talked to Trent a bit, and he was really cool, definitely the guy I liked most on our team. On the Killer Bass, I definitely liked Bridgette the most. I also asked Geoff specifically, and he'd admitted that he did really like her. He didn't say he liked her in the way I guessed, but I was pretty sure he did. Also on the team, I grew to like DJ. He didn't say much, which was actually why I started talking to him. But he turned out to be a really sweet guy.

But the next day, we were all woken up by a horn.

"It's seven in the morning!" Leshawna exclaimed, sticking her head out the window. "Do I look like a farmer to you?"

We all had to get dressed double-quick and get ready for the challenge. I noticed Cody trying to make a grab for Eva's MP3 player, but she scared him off.

"Morning, campers, hope you slept well." Chris said brightly.

"Hi, Chris." Heather said cheerfully. "You look really buff in those shorts."

I turned to Gwen and mimed gagging, earning a smirk from her.

"I know." replied Chris to Heather's compliment. "Okay, I hope you're all ready, because your next challenge starts in exactly one minute!"

"I'm not sure that's enough time to eat breakfast." Owen frowned.

Chris had a suspiciously happy smirk on his face. "Oh, you'll get breakfast, Owen...right after you complete your twenty kilometre run around the lake!"

"Oh, so you're funny now." Eva said sarcastically, starting towards Chris, fists clenched. "You wanna know what I think would be funny-" Duncan and Geoff had to hold her back.

"Eva, try to control your temper!" I heard Courtney whisper to her.

I went to the confessional for the seconds I had. "Running around the lake? I knew this would be tough, but not boring. If it goes on like this, I am going to kill Geoff for getting me to sign up for this."

We were very lucky to be the first team back. Harold was last, meaning we won.

Except Chris told us it wasn't the challenge. However, we didn't care after we had the next bit. Chris showed us a table full of the most delectable food ever. After picking at the stuff Chef served us for the last few days, I think half of us wanted to cry. All of us gorged ourselves on the buffet, especially Owen. Most of us could barely breathe afterwards.

Finally, it was time for the next part of the challenge.

"What more do you want from us?" Gwen asked.  
>"Weird goth girl is right, haven't we gone through enough?" Heather protested.<p>

"Don't call her that!" I hissed.

"Shut up, party slut." she whispered back. Okay, that was over the line. She was attacking me because of my clothes, again, but her shorts were as short as my skirt. Was she seriously calling me a slut for wearing a miniskirt?

"Your shorts are shorter than my skirt..." I whispered, adding sweetly, "And I think they're outdated."

Heather gasped at my comment.

"You two about finished?" Chris asked. Heather and I looked back at him, and kept our mouths shut. "Good. In answer to your question, Heather, I thought about it and...no. It's time for the Awake-A-Thon!"

The challenge was pretty simple – stay awake for as long as possible.

"So, what you're saying is that the twenty k run and the turkey eating frenzy was part of your evil plan to make it harder for us to stay awake?" Gwen asked.

"That's right, Gwen!"

The last camper awake would win immunity for the team.

I stayed awake by talking to people, on both teams. But by twelve hours in, everyone was looking really tired. At least I wasn't the first to fall. Owen was the first to fall at twelve hours.

Heather walked a little way away from the rest of us, calling to two of the other girls. "Lindsay, Beth, can I talk to you for a second?"

I wasn't sure what she was up to, so I tried to be inconspicious as I followed them. Luckily, Heather didn't seem to notice me and told the girls that she wanted to ally with them and take them to the final three with her. "You should know that this is a very big deal. I am placing my trust in you. And trust is a two way street."

Lindsay and Beth nodded.

"So you'll do everything I say?"

The girls nodded again. I frowned. This was bad. If Heather had those two on their side, she had three votes when we lost.

By the twenty-four hour mark, Bridgette and Izzy were both out. So was Noah, Katie, and Sadie. Tyler had fallen asleep slightly earlier, but woke up almost immediately.

"Congratulations, campers!" Chris said. "Time to take things up a notch." He held up a book. "Fairy tales!"

While Chef played the harp, Chris read out something. "_Once upon a time_, _there was, inside this boring kingdom, a boring village. In this boring, sleepy village, filled with boring village who did very boring things..."_

I'd been hanging out around the Killer Bass, mainly with Geoff. In spite of being on different teams, we had been keeping each other awake until then. But I couldn't stand it any longer, and just decided to give up. I only had enough energy to walk back to my team's side where I was supposed to be before I was out.

I woke up before the Awake-A-Thon had ended. It was at the final five – Gwen, Trent and Heather on our team, with Eva and Duncan on the other. Chris let the rest of us take a shower, while the other five stayed. I chilled in the cabin for a bit with a few of the other girls.

"So, Beth," I said to the shorter girl, "An alliance with Heather, huh? Are you sure that's a good idea?" I wouldn't have said anything if Heather had been around, but she wasn't.

Beth nodded happily. "Yes! She's taking me to the final three...oh...I probably shouldn't have told you that." she said, realizing what she was saying.

I nodded. "It's okay, I heard everything she said. It's just that...Beth, she said you and Lindsay have to do everything she says. You realize that she's going to make you do everything for her?"

"Oh, that's okay." Beth said. "I mean, it's just paying for her help. I'd never get to the finals alone."  
>I sighed. "Well, if ever you change your mind and think Heather's working you too hard, talk to me."<p>

We won the Awake-A-Thon. The numbers dwindled until it was just Gwen and Duncan, and then, during a bathroom break, Duncan lost it, and just as Chris announced our winner, Gwen finally fell asleep. Our team got some well-deserved rest before the challenge the next day. Well, at least some of us did. I was out so early, that I only needed a two-hour power nap. Heather was also up, despite having been one of the final five, so I decidedd to attempt to make peace with her.

"Um, Heather?" I said. "I think we got off on the wrong foot on the first day here. After all, we're on the same team, so we should get along. I'm sorry for what I said about your shorts being outdated." I wasn't sorry at all – she was the one who'd called me a party slut – but it would be nice if she didn't outright hate me.

I don't think it worked. Heather's grey eyes stayed cold and icy, although she smiled. "Well...I'm sorry I called you a party slut." she said. "You're right. We should get along." And then she walked off.

I'd have to be on my guard. I still couldn't trust Heather.

Eva was voted off the Killer Bass after accusing them of stealing her MP3 player. I mistrusted Heather even more when it turned out she had it. She said she had found it by the campfire pit, but I didn't know if that was completely true. Either way, my team had a numbers advantage over Geoff's. They would have to really step up their game.

**Finally, that's over! I'm looking forward to getting through some of these early ones. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5: First Loss

**Now, who enjoys dodgeball! Not me! But I do enjoy watching it. And Elle likes playing it...thanks for reviewing, Alex T and Madison Wooten (TDA and TDWT will be uploaded sometime next year in this story).**

**Thanks for your suggestions, Alex. However, most of my plans are to keep the elimination order the same. I did tweak a little bit in an earlier fic in a chapter not uploaded yet, and again, there is an extra elimination in a later season in this fic (as well as an extra challenge in TDA), but I find it easier to write if I stick to the original framework.**

Everyone was pretty tired by the next day. Most of my team was a little better, since the Killer Bass hadn't had a good night, and Duncan hadn't yet caught up on most of the sleep he'd missed.

"Harold snored all night." Courtney complained.

Chris laughed at the half-comatose Duncan. "Four nights with no sleep! How much are you hurting, dude?"

"Wanna find out?" Duncan threatened.

"No, it's cool, it's cool!"

When Harold got to the mess hall with the rest of us, it turned out someone had drawn a moustache on his face, and on seeing it, he actually _liked _it.

Finally, the last person walked in, Chris announcing her. "Hey everyone, it's Gwen!"

Like the Bass, Gwen hadn't caught up on enough sleep. Having managed to win just seconds ahead of Duncan, all she wanted to do was keep on sleeping. "I'm so tired, I can't feel my face." she sighed.

While this was going on, Heather was making up the rules for her alliance. "Number one: I am the captain of this alliance, so I get to make the rules. Number two..."

"Breaking the rules can result in getting kicked out of the alliance?" Lindsay suggested.

"Good." Heather smiled. "Number three: I can borrow any of your stuff without asking, but my stuff is strictly off-limits."

"I don't know about that last rule." Lindsay argued. Beth also frowned, and glanced over at me. I'd told her that Heather was going to make her and Lindsay do everything for her.

"That's cool." Heather said brightly. "I can change it. I can also find someone else to take to the final three with me."

If I had anything to say about it, both of Heather's alliance members would get further than she would. Sadly, Heather seemed like a strong competitor so far. I'd have to keep her on our team for now.

"Hey, wanna have some fun?" she asked her alliance. They both nodded, and she yelled over to the Killer Bass "Hey, fish heads! Way to kick out your strongest player! Why don't you just give up now?" Courtney answered by flinging some oatmeal at her, but it hit Gwen.

"Missed me!" Heather called out happily.

"Okay, campers, listen up!" called out Chris. "Your next challenge begins in ten minutes! And be prepared to bring it!"

Basically, this little stadium was set up on the beach, with benches on either side. Duncan immediately slumped on one of them, warning "Wake me up, and it'll be the last thing you do."

The challenge was basically playing dodgeball – cool! I wasn't too bad at it. "The first rule of dodgeball is-"

"Do not talk about dodgeball?" quipped Noah. Owen and I chuckled.

"As I was saying," Chris continued, "If you get hit with a ball..." he threw one, and it hit Courtney.

"Ow!"

"...you're out." Chris finished.

"You can't do that!" Courtney threw the ball back.

"If you catch the ball," Chris continued, "The thrower gets sent out and the catcher gets to bring in another team member on the court."

"Throwing balls, gee, another mentally challenging test." snarked Noah.

"I know, right?" Lindsay said sincerely.

I pulled the blonde girl to the side. "Lindsay, it's very simple." I explained, trying to sound as patient as possible. "All you should do is just keep away from the ball at all times." In spite of my telling her, she still needed to hear what she was meant to do when the ball came at her. When Chris asked him to demonstrate, Geoff actually hit Lindsay with it, and it left a pretty huge bump on her head.

Chris also told us that we could deflect the ball with another ball, but if said ball was knocked out of our hands, we were out. And our team would have to sit someone out each game, due to our numbers advantage. Anyway, whoever got out five players first won the game. The winners would be determined by the best out of five.

"Okay, we can't get lazy." Heather warned the team. "The Killer Bass are gonna be trying extra hard to catch up. Who wants to sit the first one out with Sleeping Beauty?" Meaning Gwen.

Noah gave a sigh and said "All right, I'll volunteer. Now let's see all you keeners get out there and dodge!"

So we went out onto the court. "Bring it on, fishies," Heather taunted, "Otherwise winning three in a row just won't be as satisfying!"

"Oh, you're going down!" Tyler answered. "We're gonna bring the dinner to the table, and then we're gonna eat it!"

Courtney facepalmed. I gave him a "WTF?" look. What did he mean by that?

Chef blew the whistle, and at first, the team seemed useless. Tyler tried throwing, and ended up hitting Sadie, who was a: not on our team, and b: not on the court.

Owen was an awesome player. He got Tyler out straightaway, and although Harold boasted about his "wicked skills", his first throw went high, but only rolled over to our side, and Leshawna got him out. "And that's how we roll!" she yelled, high-fiving Owen.

Katie was pretty good at the game, though, and gave Lindsay her second bruise of the day. Heather purposely threw a ball at Tyler when he and Lindsay waved to each other, even though he wasn't on the court. "Oopsies! Slipped!"

Courtney did try to retaliate by throwing a ball at Heather, but Owen caught it, getting Courtney out. However, when we brought Gwen in, DJ immediately got her out, although he apologized. Aw, that was so sweet of him!

Another ball thrown got knocked out of Leshawna's hands, leaving Cody as the only person left. But...wow, did that guy have powers. He did something really weird with the balls. The first one flew past DJ and then curved back around, hitting him. The second one had some electric charge so that it followed Katie until it hit her.

The first game was ours. It was time to win the next one.

"All right, Noah, you're up." Heather said.

"You know, you guys did such an awesome job in the last one that I don't want to mess up your mojo." he answered.

I rolled my eyes. "Noah, just play this one game. Everyone else has. The sooner you get onto the court, the sooner you can go back to reading your book."

"Let it go, Elle." Heather muttered. "He obviously doesn't want to win." She quickly whispered "We can vote him out if he continues to be useless."

It seemed like she thought I was serious about wanting to get along. Although I still didn't trust her. But Noah seemed like an obvious person to vote out. Heather had to prompt him to do anything, and when he did, it was just calling out "Woohoo, way to throw those murder balls. Go, team, go." And even then it was in a monotone.

We won the second game, too (although Heather got mad because Lindsay and Tyler went off together after they were taken out). But then the Bass woke Duncan and he had some amazing skills. The Bass focused on one person at a time and took all of us out, one by one. They won the next game.

Let me tell you, getting hit by DJ, Geoff, Courtney and Katie at the same time was painful. In the second game, I'd taken out Bridgette easily while Owen was taking out Katie and Sadie, but this was a true revenge.

"All right." Heather said to our team. "Not that Noah here cares, but we are not losing another game to these guys, got it? And where is Lindsay?" she added.

"Making out with Tyler, I suspect." I giggled. "Don't you remember? They went off together." And they'd had a thing for each other since the first day. Long story short, Lindsay got scared of a roach, Duncan killed it, and Tyler told her that if she ever saw one again to let him know so he could kill it the next time.

Heather left for a bit, and returned with Lindsay, ordering "Sit down and stay there." Poor Lindsay! I felt sorry for her, letting Heather of all people tell her what to do. She looked so dejected.

Beth got hit as they spoke, our second to last player.

"Sports, not my forte, remember?" Noah said without looking up.

Heather glared at him. "You know, you could at least give it a shot and pretend to care." The Bass won again, just as Tyler walked in, and Courtney started telling him off for hanging out with Lindsay. "It's bad enough that Geoff's sister keeps hanging around, but at least it's with all of us. If you're alone with that other blonde girl, she could be getting you to spill all of our weaknesses to her!"

Lindsay was, at that moment, making her hands have a conversation, or something – making the talking motion with both of her hands like they were sock puppets.

The last game was a tiebreaker, and Heather was becoming even more bossy than usual. It was a hard game, but it was satisfying to see Noah accidentally getting hit.

Finally, it was down to just Harold and Owen. Courtney hadn't wanted Harold to compete, but Geoff let him in.

I stated how I felt about that in the confessional. "Okay, so I consider myself a nice person. But I couldn't have brought Harold in. If Geoff isn't throwing this challenge, then I've spent the last sixteen years underestimating how truly lucky I am that I've got him for a brother!"

Finally, it came down to Harold vs Owen.

"Sorry, dude, but you've gotta go down!" Owen declared.

"Goodnight, Harold." I heard Duncan muttering.

But seconds later, Harold proved expert at dodging. Wow. And then he caught the last ball Owen threw at him, winning the Killer Bass their first challenge, and sending us to elimination.

"Gophers, what happened?" Chris asked.

Noah looked up. "What can I say? Weak effort."

"Oh, shut it, Noah." Gwen and I said at the same time, walking out.

"You know, for once, I agree with them." I heard Heather saying as we left. Gwen went off to the cabins to catch up on a bit more sleep, while I went to the dock and lay on my back, cloud watching.

I cast my vote pretty early, and I'm pretty sure everyone else made the same choice. Lindsay was useless at dodgeball, but Noah refused to try.

The ceremony was pretty much how I imagined. Basically, everyone who was still in got a marshmallow.

Finally, Noah was the only one left. "What, are you kidding me?" he exclaimed. "All right, see if I care. Good luck, because you just voted out the only one with any brains on this team." We all threw our marshmallow at him.

"You need to learn a little thing called respect, turkey!" Leshawna shouted at him.

After the ceremony, I confessed to Leshawna "I was actually kind of nervous there."

"How come?" she asked. "We had absolutely no reason to vote you off."

"I don't know." I murmured. "It just happens. Plus I remember Courtney was telling Tyler off about hanging out with Lindsay. And I know Heather's mad at Lindsay about it too, so I wouldn't be surprised if she was pissed that I try to spend time with that team, too. But the way I see it, us Gophers are a team. It's not like making friends on the other team is going to stop anyone from being a tough player."

Leshawna regarded me thoughtfully. "Girl, you are something else in the social sense." she murmured.

I laughed. "What, so you can't make friends on the other team?"

"I wouldn't. There's not much point until after the merge, anyway." Leshawna admitted. She grinned. "But then again, there's no way that I would swear eternal friendship to Heather, either!"

That made us both burst out laughing.

**Yeah, I wanted Elle and Leshawna to be friends. To be honest, I went in here expecting Elle to be better friends with Gwen, but her friendship with Leshawna seems more natural. Gwen's very introverted at this point, while Leshawna is outgoing. Elle is quieter, but very social. Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6: Enemy Teammate

**So that's all cool. BTW, the song reference I make is from the amazing musical _Wicked._**

The Bass were on a high until the next challenge, two days later. I sat with them at lunchtime on the day after the dodgeball battle and Courtney didn't say a word.

During our free time, I pulled Bridgette aside to talk to her, intending to bring up something with her. "Um, I've wanted to ask you something for the last few days." I admitted. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone else what I'm about to tell you."

Bridgette looked a bit surprised that I was choosing to confide in her, but she nodded.

"Well..." I said quietly, "I think Geoff has a crush on you."

The surprised look faded, and Bridgette smiled. "Well, to be honest, I sort of knew that already. He's pretty obvious. But sometimes he says the dumbest things around me. You're his sister, is that...normal for him?"

I giggled. "He always does that when he has a crush on someone. He'll try to act all suave and nice, but usually he'll just end up looking stupid. If he says anything in a complimentary tone that sounds weird, trust me, he's trying to flirt with you. One time, he had a crush on this girl, and he drove her away when he said that she looked like Naomi Campbell, except for her weight and she thought he was calling her overweight."

Bridgette giggled. "Thanks for telling me, Elle. I'll keep that in mind."

I shrugged. "Hey, I count you as a friend, and much as I love to see Geoff making a fool of himself, I think you guys would make a good couple."

Bridgette smiled. "Since we're talking about crushes, I should tell you. I think DJ likes you."

I frowned. "What? DJ? He's nice, I like talking to him, but a crush?"

"He doesn't usually say much." Bridgette told me. "Remember the first day, when you kept trying to draw him out? He's been more open since then. And I know you didn't notice, but he keeps looking at you with this smile whenever he thinks no one's looking. I wouldn't say anything to him, but what do you think?"

I didn't know. Sure, I thought DJ was a really sweet person, and I liked him a lot. I didn't know if I liked him in that way, though.

"Maybe I could talk to him more." I said. "I like him. Maybe I could like him in that way. Anyway, thanks for telling me, Bridge."

"Anytime." Bridgette said brightly.

I was woken up the morning of the next challenge by a voice whining "Oh, this is so way beyond bad!"

Lindsay was sitting on her bed, holding a tube. "I'm out of fake tanner already!"

"That's tragic, Lindsay." Gwen said sarcastically from her bunk.

"Now I have to actually like, sun tan, in the sun!" Lindsay continued. "Do you realize how wrinkly that can make your skin?" She went over to Gwen, who was the palest competitor here. "Oh, you totally do!"

After breakfast, Chris called us all to the outside amphitheatre.

"Are we going to see a musical?" Lindsay asked excitedly. "I love musicals, especially the ones with singing and dancing!"

I started singing under my breath _"Popular, you're gonna be popular, I'll teach you the proper ploys..."_

"Gwen, saved you a seat." Trent called to Gwen. Cody tried to copy Trent's relaxed stance and fell over. Tyler and Lindsay waved to each other, and Heather, who had her hair in a ponytail, purposely moved so that her ponytail smacked Lindsay In the face. The poor girl even found a black hair had come off on her tongue.

Chris explained that the challenge was a talent show. Each team had to pick their three most talented campers, who would compete tonight. They would be judged by Chef, and whoever got the best score out of nine would win the challenge for their team. "Anything goes, as long as it's legal." Chris added, making the 'I'm watching you' sign at Duncan.

Heather immediately appointed herself captain of our team, making her alliance the judges. Well, Gwen objected, but she was distracted when Trent got her an extra muffin. Aw, they were so sweet together.

"Trent, you're cool with me leading this project, aren't you?" Heather asked sweetly.

"Right on. Go for it." he answered.

I sighed and muttered to him quietly "You don't know Heather too well yet, do you?"

Although, I should add here, when Lindsay and Beth voted for Heather to dance her ballet at the talent show, they were right to do so. She was really good, even though light pink clashed with her dark hair. We also decided to have Trent play his guitar and sing, but we had some problems with the other campers. Heather condemned Owen's talent of burping the alphabet in one go, and Beth was good at twirling fire batons, but couldn't throw and catch without setting the bush on fire. Izzy's "dance of the rattlesnake" wasn't especially good, either.

I decided to try out, and sang the whole of "Popular" from the musical _Wicked, _doing a tiny bit of dance I'd learned when I took jazz lessons when I was fourteen.

"I vote for Elle!" Lindsay said immediately.

"Me too!" Beth added.

But Heather was torn between picking me...or picking Justin. I could sing, but all Justin had to do was pose. Modelling was his talent.

Finally, Heather sighed and said "Fine. Put Elle in."

I spent most of the day hanging out with Leshawna, as usual. Gwen went off by herself for a while (although Cody followed her), then she and Trent went off together.

But then I went into the cabin that afternoon. Heather was rummaging through a bunch of stuff, none of which was hers.

"Heather?"

My teammate turned around, looking shocked. Her features slightly relaxed, and she said "Hey, Elle. What's up?"

"I could ask you the same question." I said. "Isn't that stuff Gwen's? What are you doing with it?"

"Oh, I'm just straightening things up." Heather answered breezily.. "I messed up everyone's stuff in our room when I was looking for my toe shoes."

At that moment, we heard Lindsay's voice outside saying loudly. "Gwen! It's you! What are you doing here, outside the cabin, Gwen?"

I heard Gwen's voice say something more quietly, and then Lindsay answering "Oh, you're trying to get into the cabin! That's very interesting! Wait, stay here! We can get tans together, and you could totally use one!"

By the time Lindsay had stopped very loudly trying to divert Gwen, Heather had straightened everything up...although I did notice that everything out of place belonged to Gwen. That was weird. Heather was up to something, I was sure of it.

The Killer Bass had just an okay line up. DJ was going to do a ribbon dance, Geoff was doing skateboard stunts (he was pretty good at them) and originally, Courtney was going to play violin, but it got broken, so Bridgette was going to demonstrate how she could stand on her hands for twenty minutes.

I blocked out everything else, trying to get into character, since I was up first. Finally, I heard Chris introducing me, and I came out. "_Whenever I see someone less fortunate than I..." _I began.

I am going to admit something here and now. Yes, I did portray myself as a slightly less ditzy version of Lindsay. Chef gave me seven out of nine.

DJ went next, but his feet got tangled in the ribbons halfway through and Chef gave him two. The poor guy looked dejected, and I put a hand on his shoulder, remembering what Bridgette had told me. "It's okay, DJ." I said. "You were brilliant, up until then."

DJ looked slightly less dejected. "I don't usually do that." he said. "Get caught in the ribbon, I mean."

"I could tell." I said truthfully. "I personally think Chef should've given you another point. Everything else you did before that was perfect."

But even my score couldn't beat Trent's. He sang and played a song that went out to "someone special". "_They say that we've only got summer," _he sang, "_And I say that's really a bummer,_

_But we'll swim in the sun and have lots of fun, it'll just be the two of us,_

_Nothing to do, but just hang, so let me say only this:_

_Stick around, for just one kiss."_

Trent got eight out of nine. "Great song." I whispered to him as he came back. "So...I think Gwen liked it."

A tiny bit of red appeared on Trent's face, and I laughed at him. "Don't worry, I won't say anything. So does that mean your song was for Gwen?"

Bridgette was next, but apparently, she'd been eating too many chips beforehand, because she barfed everywhere. Owen, Katie, Sadie, and Leshawna were hit, and Katie was so grossed out that she puked all over Sadie. Then Bridgette slipped on her own puke, landing in Tyler's arms.

"Hey, puke on your own boyfriend!" snapped Lindsay.

Heather caught it. "On your own _what, _Lindsay?"

"I didn't say boyfriend!"

I groaned. "Lindsay is allowed to like Tyler." I snapped. "She is your alliance member, not your subject. Listen, Heather, you shouldn't have problems with inter-team dating, because Lindsay is not going to tell Tyler all our weaknesses or anything. She's not smart enough." Luckily, Lindsay didn't seem to hear me, in her own little world (she spaced out a _lot_).

Bridgette got two out of nine, and Chris had the place hosed down while Bridgette cleaned herself up. There wasn't enough time for everyone to do so, though. It was Heather's turn.

"Originally, I was going to dance for you." she said. "But instead, I want to celebrate team spirit with a collaboration." She held up a little black book.

Beside me, I heard Gwen gasp. "She wouldn't."

"So," Heather continued, "With words by Gwen, performance by me, enjoy."

Seriously? She was going to read out Gwen's diary to the whole camp and the world viewing? I couldn't believe it.

"_Okay, so I'm trying to ignore him," _Heather read, "_But he's just so cute! If they had custom-ordered a guy to be a distraction to me here, it would've been McHottie."_

In our team, Lindsay gasped (thinking it was Tyler, probably), and Cody pointed to himself, grinning.

"_We just totally connect," _Heather continued, "_He's pretty much the only person I can relate to here, and I know it's a cliché, but I LOVE guys who play guitar."_

Cody looked confused. "Wait...I don't play guitar."

I turned around and whispered "That's because she obviously wasn't talking about you!"

Gwen just ran off, not looking back. I glanced at Trent, who was looking a bit confused. It was obvious Gwen had been writing about him.

Heather got zero out of nine. Good. At least Chef knew that reading another girl's diary was way too mean. Now I had a good reason to vote off Heather.

As it happened, I had a chance to vote off Heather that night. Geoff broke his skateboard before making it onstage. The only person the Bass could send out was Harold, and that wasnt too hopeful for them. But Harold surprised us all by showcasing some of the "mad skills" he talked about. This particular skill was – beatboxing. To think, behind that skinny nerdy exterior was some seriously cool things.

Chef gave him full marks for his performance, meaning we lost, which was when I voted Heather off.

I was the third to last to be called up for my marshmallow. But the big shocker was that of all people, the person voted off was..._Justin!_

Yes, Justin. I didn't understand it either.

I talked to Geoff that evening again. "So it's all tied up now." he grinned with a smirk. "How much do you bet we get the numbers advantage over you guys next week, little sis?"

"Minus five bucks." I smirked back. "Anyway, Harold was the only winner this week, Mr Break-The-Board. Oh, and before I forget, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"Well...uh..." I stammered. "I was talking to Bridgette yesterday, and she said she thinks DJ might...you know...like me. I wasn't sure."

Geoff grinned. "I get it. You want me to ask him?"

"If you do it subtly." I said. "Just don't tell him I asked you, please!"

"Sure, Elle!" Geoff said brightly. "I won't tell."

I frowned for a moment. "Wait...so you have no concerns about me dating him? Every other time I've dated anyone, you've made me wait until you approve the guy."

"I've been sharing a cabin with DJ." Geoff said simply. "I know he's a good guy – probably the only guy in our cabin I'd actually recommend dating."

I didn't know if I believed that, but hey, I couldn't take it back now. So I headed back to our cabin, just as Heather ran out, screaming.

"What happened?" I asked the other girls.

Gwen had a little smirk on her face. "Somehow, Harold's red ant farm ended up in Heather's bed."

I giggled. "Great payback!"

**Yes, the wilderness challenge next! One of my favourites! Please review.**


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